Nintendo’s Miyamoto stepping down, working on smaller games

Shigeru Miyamoto will be devoting his time at Nintendo to personal projects …

REDWOOD CITY, CA—The creator of Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda will step down from his current position at Nintendo but remain with the company to work on smaller, more personal projects, Wired.com has learned.

In an exclusive interview with Wired.com on Wednesday, the 59-year-old head of Nintendo's game design department said that he will move away from supervising the development of massive games like this year's Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Super Mario 3D Land, passing the torch to the younger designers in the company and working on projects that won't take as long to complete.

"Inside our office, I've been recently declaring, 'I'm going to retire, I'm going to retire,'" Shigeru Miyamoto said through his interpreter. "I'm not saying that I'm going to retire from game development altogether. What I mean by retiring is, retiring from my current position."

"What I really want to do is be in the forefront of game development once again myself," Miyamoto said. "Probably working on a smaller project with even younger developers. Or I might be interested in making something that I can make myself, by myself. Something really small."

Miyamoto said that he's hoping to start work on a project in 2012, and hopefully show the game off publicly within the year.

"In other words, I'm not intending to start from things that require a five-year development time," he said.

Miyamoto, whose creations propelled Nintendo to worldwide prominence beginning with 1981′s arcade game Donkey Kong and who is generally recognized as the world's most influential and creative game designer, said he felt comfortable stepping away from supervising the Mario and Zelda games because his staff has done such a good job with this year's critically acclaimed entries in both series.

"I'm saying this because I have a solid reaction from the existing teams," he said. "I was able to nurture the developers inside Nintendo who were able to create something like this or something like that," he said, gesturing to banners in the interview room in Nintendo's office that showed the logos of Skyward Sword and Mario 3D Land.

The reason Miyamoto keeps telling the younger developers that he's going to retire is to send the message that he won't always be around for them to work with.

"The reason why I'm stressing that is that unless I say that I'm retiring, I cannot nurture the young developers," he said. "After all, if I'm there in my position as it is, then there's always kind of a relationship. And the young guys are always kind of in a situation where they have to listen to my ideas. But I need some people who are growing up much more than today."

As for himself, Miyamoto seemed eager to get to work on his new ideas with a smaller, younger staff.

"Anyway, I'm interested in doing a variety of many other things," he said with his usual cryptic smile.

Wired.com's full interview with Miyamoto, including his thoughts on Skyward Sword, making Mario Kart 7 with a Western development team, 3-D gaming, cell phones and more on the future of games, will be published next week.

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50 Reader Comments

The beginning of the end! The WiiU will be Nintendo's last console because and they'll move to becoming just a 3rd party developer. I expect Iwata to announce cell phone games in the next couple of years.

In other news, this is a sign that I really am old. I wonder how many newer gamers, from the late 90s and onwards, actually know who Miyamoto is? Is he still a big name in gaming culture, or is he, like myself, a relic of earlier days?

He is a true virtuoso. I'm sad to see him leave Nintendo, where he had so much success, but I'm hopeful for his future. I still like Wind Waker.To quote the warrior-poet Biggie Smalls, "If ya don't know, now ya know"

"[Miyamoto] will step down from his current position at Nintendo but _remain with the company_ to work on smaller, more personal projects"

I think it's a great thing, he's a genius and i can't wait see what he'd come up with.

My thoughts definitely came from the "cup half full" situation. A lot of the blockbuster money makers from Nintendo have been pretty thoroughly milked and really don't need such an innovative guy behind them to keep producing what they have been doing. I'm sure Nintendo has ample talented people in those roles.

But a guy like this being given some free reign on small projects could create the next big franchise for Nintendo in the long run, something they could really use at this point. At the very least bring some unique ideas to the Nintendo platform.

He seems fit as a fiddle and poised to do great things, yet this announcement still strikes me as a bit momentous and a little sad. It's kind of like Walt Disney saying he's going to stop drawing Mickey Mouse.

Oh well, I probably shouldn't be sad. It's not I've been floored by any Mario game in the last 10 years. They've been good, but I'd agree it's best to use Miyamoto in more creative ways while we've got him.

Oh snap! I hope he doesn't want to make these games by himself in his garage?? Because then Reggie won't let them onto Nintendo consoles!

I think this may produce some new creations that Nintendo has been starving for. I fear their culture is such that nobody in their team would ever think to challenge Miyamoto which inevitably led to conformism and rehash of many of the same ideas, since no one would step up. We really need diverse ideas to be implemented and although the guy is brilliant, he was too rooted in his creations to allow them to change.

I read the article and interpreted it to say: "Miyamoto is stepping down from his primary duties at Nintendo. Get ready for a killer new series from Nintendo, to be launched in 2-3 years, that will carry the company for the next decade."

If I could have all those hours back that I spent playing Mr. Miyamoto's games, I would just play those games again. Thank you Sir.

It always felt like Miyamoto's talents were being underutilized by having him direct multiple major releases. His most unique creation of late was Pikmin. I'm really interested in seeing what he is able to come up with now.

Yeah, Pikmin was the last true Miyamoto game and I would say his best talents have been wasted since then. This was not hard to see coming. He had to feel stifled with the over arching responsibilities in his current position. I'm very much looking forward to see what he comes up with.

"[Miyamoto] will step down from his current position at Nintendo but _remain with the company_ to work on smaller, more personal projects"

I think it's a great thing, he's a genius and i can't wait see what he'd come up with.

My thoughts definitely came from the "cup half full" situation. A lot of the blockbuster money makers from Nintendo have been pretty thoroughly milked and really don't need such an innovative guy behind them to keep producing what they have been doing. I'm sure Nintendo has ample talented people in those roles.

But a guy like this being given some free reign on small projects could create the next big franchise for Nintendo in the long run, something they could really use at this point. At the very least bring some unique ideas to the Nintendo platform.

+1

When I first saw the headline I was worried it meant he was retiring from game development, but seeing him go from supervisor back to developer is probably a very good thing. I eagerly await the chance to see what he will create now.

To Mr. Miyamoto,You are a story teller and world builder of the first class. In my childhood I visited the city of Gotham, The Final Frontier, Union/Alliance Space, The Caves of Steel, and many other realms of fantasy, but I spent as much time in the land of Hyrule as in any of them.As an adult I have less time for the realms of fantasy, but I still find occasion to visit and enjoy the magical places you create. I hope to visit the new worlds that will be born of your mind, your heart, your magic.

I smell Nintendo games coming to iOS, only Apple could pull it off given their history with Japanese industry

I just want Pokemon Blue on my iTouch. That's it, nothing more.

Install Cydia, install gpSPhone ??? profit

For the record, even my ye-olde iRiver H140 can play gameboy games when using Rockbox. Sure, you wouldn't want to play them because the contrast is bad, but it's probably relatively similar to the original gameboy screen in that respect. Almost anything can play gameboy games if you look around.

I wonder if the boys n the blue blur down the street are up to something... with shigeru moving back to the front lines, its wat they wanted. Nintendo on top, xbox dev team shaking in their boots and sony is lost in the sauce; its what they wanted. I guess we shall see

I suspect that this has two reasons: It's what Miyamoto wants, and it's what Nintendo needs.

I think Nintendo needs to get the Wii U out shortly - it's hardware specs aren't great (meaning, much better than the current generation of consoles) and the longer it takes to get out, the less early mover advantage they have. But, they don't necessarily have enough time to get one of their big budget titles out in time. Miyamoto can experiment and find something unique for their new console without risking one of Nintendos' big games. So they can have an innovative, unique, and clearly Nintendo style game out for the release and have a little time to implement what they learned from it to go into their big budget titles to be released next year.

I disagree that this is the end, if anything this will help, ive not been the most impressed, in recent years, i have my old Nintendo and gameboys still, but have not purchased a wii nor will i play the one we have, game wise again not been impressed, i think this idea of his will help the company at least with players like me, more creativity etc, allowing them to think on their own without the company watching them saying DO WHAT Miyamoto SAYS!, allows them to develop like when games were fresh and new, i enjoy my playstation titles, but would like a game that i enjoy as i did as a child on my NES, at one point i wanted to be a plumber :Pnot to say that i want that again, but idk, i love ratchet and clank because it reminds me of some older games, and i have most of those, i want to see Nintendo develop like they did, hopefully this helps :)

I disagree that this is the end, if anything this will help, ive not been the most impressed, in recent years, i have my old Nintendo and gameboys still, but have not purchased a wii nor will i play the one we have, game wise again not been impressed, i think this idea of his will help the company at least with players like me, more creativity etc, allowing them to think on their own without the company watching them saying DO WHAT Miyamoto SAYS!, allows them to develop like when games were fresh and new, i enjoy my playstation titles, but would like a game that i enjoy as i did as a child on my NES, at one point i wanted to be a plumber not to say that i want that again, but idk, i love ratchet and clank because it reminds me of some older games, and i have most of those, i want to see Nintendo develop like they did, hopefully this helps

Please use at least an occasional period. Posts punctuated by nothing but commas are difficult to read, especially with no capital letters to serve as cues for the beginning of a new statement.

He seems fit as a fiddle and poised to do great things, yet this announcement still strikes me as a bit momentous and a little sad. It's kind of like Walt Disney saying he's going to stop drawing Mickey Mouse.

It's a bittersweet moment for me. Miyamoto's work has had a big impact on me, but I think he ended this role on an appropriate note. I also look forward to what he'll do in the future, and I'm thankful for all the joy his wonderful games have brought me.

I am somewhat saddened by this development, but at the same time I am hopeful.

Shigeru Miyamoto under quick development cycles has created hits like Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros, and the original Legend of Zelda. Within the past 10 years, he has mostly created longer versions of the same things. True groundbreaking advances in those games ended in the N64 era, it seems. Sure, the games are still great, but they can still be that way with Miyamoto working on other things, because he already set in the groundwork on those franchises.

Large development cycles lead to stale ideas because of the ever-important "Return on Investment" ratios that large games require to be viable these days. With less focus on ROI, Miyamoto can now have the freedom to be truly creative - something that should excite any Nintendo true believer.

(Although I wish Nintendo would go the way of SEGA and make true PC ports of their franchises... but I'll take what I can get. Nintendo is still great)

He seems fit as a fiddle and poised to do great things, yet this announcement still strikes me as a bit momentous and a little sad. It's kind of like Walt Disney saying he's going to stop drawing Mickey Mouse.

It is kind of like that, isn't it?

Except there's nothing stopping him from using Donkey Kong, Mario, Link, McCloud, etcetera. What he does with them may not be the long development big budget games, but who cares? If Miyamoto decided to take the latest Zelda game engine and assets and work on a Majora's Mask type title (using what they already have, and adding a new twist/game mechanic) would anyone object? He may be working with a small team, but he's still part of Nintendo. I'm guessing he'll have more freedom over what he works on, not less. As the boss his focus was the companies focus. If they were working on a Mario game when he had a great idea for a Donkey Kong game he had to consider things like which would be the bigger money maker and where the company needed him. Now he can work on just about anything he wants. Less resources, but fewer people to answer to and less worry about whether a game will be a smash hit. Freedom is good.

"[Miyamoto] will step down from his current position at Nintendo but _remain with the company_ to work on smaller, more personal projects"

I think it's a great thing, he's a genius and i can't wait see what he'd come up with.

My thoughts definitely came from the "cup half full" situation. A lot of the blockbuster money makers from Nintendo have been pretty thoroughly milked and really don't need such an innovative guy behind them to keep producing what they have been doing. I'm sure Nintendo has ample talented people in those roles.

But a guy like this being given some free reign on small projects could create the next big franchise for Nintendo in the long run, something they could really use at this point. At the very least bring some unique ideas to the Nintendo platform.

Agreed. I think his creativity has been stifled by overseeing these milked to death franchises instead of allowing his creative genius the freedom to do something completely new and different. Having his name tied to a project doesn't`t have the same cache it once did (for me anyway) because all the games have become so predictable. Despite the Wii`s success overall, as a long time Nintendo fan it`s been a colossal disappointment, it`s just been milk everything to death and add motion control even though it adds nothing to the gameplay.

For the longest time I said that as long as Steve Jobs and Miyamoto were alive, I would have full faith in the future of both Apple and Nintendo. Apple seems to be doing well in the wake of Steve's passing and considering their labs have the next 3 years worth of Apple products in them at any given time, I think it will be awhile before we have a project that is really post-Steve come to light. How they manage things will be very interesting to see.

Much love to Miyamoto, certainly one of the most important video game devs ever. Given his influence for the last 30 years, that influence could easily be argued to be most important dev.

Wow, what a massive f*uk you to the legions of loyal fans! Way to put your legacies down the toilet. And the day after pearl harbour day too? Looks like the big N has lost all sense of taste + class. Seriously considering cancelling my Club Nintendo membership, and I suggest all you previously loyal N fans do too! disgrace!

Wow, what a massive f*uk you to the legions of loyal fans! Way to put your legacies down the toilet. And the day after pearl harbour day too? Looks like the big N has lost all sense of taste + class. Seriously considering cancelling my Club Nintendo membership, and I suggest all you previously loyal N fans do too! disgrace!

How is this a FU to fans? Miyamoto wants to get back to being a developer on smaller projects rather than overseeing really long projects. This will mean there is a much greater frequency that we can hear the phrase "A game developed by Shigeru Miyamoto", which is usually a great selling point and a near guarantee of a fun game. Did you even read this article?

I like this even better. He's giving his direct influence and his thoughts to the base developers and idea men.He's not in a pompous production position, he'll have a straight line to get thoughts from junior developers and smaller teams. He'll be able to nurture creativity and pass on his line of thinking, while also having some fun.And working on projects of his own making!

In other news, this is a sign that I really am old. I wonder how many newer gamers, from the late 90s and onwards, actually know who Miyamoto is? Is he still a big name in gaming culture, or is he, like myself, a relic of earlier days?

Oh God, don't talk like that, you're making me feel old... I would think they would have to kind of recognize him at least. The Zelda cult is pretty open in its admiration/worship of him, how much of that could you never see and still call yourself a gamer?

Also, is anyone else walking away from his quotes thinking "hey kids, get off my lawn, figure it out yourselves and let me do my own freaking work!"

I don't see how this can't be anything but good. Nintendo certainly needs more creative people in the right places.

I had been playing Mario 3DS Land and is a wonderfull game, but I feel it's missing some of the magic that made the previous ones legendary. Maybe I'm wearing rose tinted glasses or something but I think Super Mario Bros 3 is the best game that have ever be created.